After a break of over three years, we recently saw the release of Joanna Newsom’s latest record, Have One On Me. This is a triple CD, each consisting of six songs for a total of 18 tracks spanning over 2 hours. If you saw my The Best Albums of 2000~2009 post, then you know that The Milk-Eyed Mender is amongst my favorite records of the last decade (I also loved Ys). I was so excited after hearing this I felt the need to write and tell you all how wonderful it is! While maintaining her signature style, Joanna takes on a more soulful tone here. I read an interview with Joanna where she was asked about her influences. She went on to describe some hippy harp circles where she learned about west African rhythms, etc. as well as various types of world/folk music. The few pop references she provided included Donovan, Dylan, and Billie Holiday – but I tend to hear a bit of Joni Mitchell (one of my all time favorites) and perhaps even Janis Joplin in this record. I can’t wait to listen to this more and form a more concrete opinion, but I think I can already conclude this will be amongst my favorites this year. Buy it here.
